Daily driver? That and more.
Written: May 25 '04 (Updated Jul 03 '04)
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Pros: Tossable (highly!), fun, turns heads, gets lots of looks.
Cons: Occasional rough idle (described in review), certainly built for 2, maybe 3, but not 4.
The Bottom Line: You will smile, and others will smile back at you.
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| mini_windex's Full Review: 2004 MINI Cooper |
(This review was last updated July 3rd, 2004.)
I own a black and white 5-spd 2004 MINI Cooper (base model). We bought it on the 30th of January and as of today, May 25th, it has about 6,300 miles on it. It has Leatherette, the chrome options, premium package (Climate Control and Panoramic Sunroof are big ticket items for me), and the Cold Weather Package (welcome to Wisconsin).
Before I start the review, I wanted to note something about the social implications of owning a MINI: You will talk to lots of strangers about your car, so you'll want to know everything you can remember about it -- including the cons, so people don't think you're a sales guy. :)
Background
I had a period where I went through several cars in the span of a few years. The first car was an Acura RSX, the second was a Honda Accord. The RSX was just too small to be comfortable (my head constantly hit the ceiling -- I'm 6'2"), and was kind of tight for 2 people. After a long talk with my wife, we decided to buy a larger sedan (the Accord). Bad idea. I'm not a sedan person, and this was basically the year of hell in terms of my driving experiences. I actually went to a Motorcycle Safety Foundation course over the summer and put 2,000 miles on a cheap old 1982 Honda motorcycle from July to late November, with winter gear on, because I did not want to drive the Accord.
By mid-December, I was done with the Accord. I tried to convince myself to buy a '04 Prius, but talked myself out of it after putting in a deposit, partially because of Toyota's production capacity being so limited and partially because I realized it was just another sleepy sedan.
I realized that before I bought the RSX I was looking at MINI's, which at the time the wife veto'd without looking at them "knowing" they were too small. I knew better but didn't push the issue. :) This time around, however, I decided to take another look. And I was sold. The same day, with the car above being almost exactly what I wanted (didn't care about the chrome) and it was on the lot. The car is a lot bigger, shoulder width and ceiling height wise from the RSX. It's also fun to drive, comfortable for 2 + dog (my requirement for size), and seemed to be everything I needed and wanted in one package.
Performance
A lot of the reviews here are driving Cooper S', and while that's fine, the extra 40-ish HP and $4k of cost is completely unworthwhile if you're looking to save money. The base 115hp I4 1.6l SOHC engine is more fun than the specs would lead you to believe, and coming from other 4 cylinder vehicles -- it is well over "just fast enough" for freeway onramps and sporty street driving. The car in its base configuration has no problem laying down rubber or doing burnouts (if you're into that :).
I will note, however, that I did test drive a CVT model when I was evaluating the trim levels, and honestly, the CVT does seem to suck almost half the power out of the engine at low speeds. Something to consider if you can drive a manual -- drive both and see what suits you.
Comfort
As I've said before, me, and wife + dog are quite comfortable in the car. Neither of us are exactly small people, and both of us fit without a hassle or overlapping arms (such as we had in the RSX). With the sunroof wide open and both windows down, it feels almost as if you are driving an open frame go-kart with a roll cage. I consider that a positive trait.
In the cold, the climate control and heated seats make the ride as enjoyable as any luxury trim level vehicle I have ever ridden in during winter.
Some people have complained about a rough ride -- those people haven't driven enough cars. The ride in the MINI isn’t soft by any means, but it's not hard either. It provides a ride consistent with the level of suspension you require to feel the road beneath you. If you don't like to feel the road for some odd reason, the MINI is not the car for you.
Additionally, even though this car is small and reasonably light, wind does not play a major factor in its ability to keep on the road. I found with my Accord, it would slide all over the road on a 2 lane meeting a semi. The MINI doesn’t budge an inch, even in extreme weather you only get the slightest nudge at the wheel. My best guess is that this is due to its low proximity to the ground.
I have thrown 4 people into this car before, and while it is manageable, I will never be one of the people in the rear seats during that time. Small children might be fine, but once you start talking about 8 and up, it might not be so great. If you are buying this car and intend to use it to transport 4 adults or even 2 grown children in the rear -- DON'T! It won't work out, I promise. For me, this is a second car (my wife owns a VW Passat Wagon), and as a second car for what is mostly my commute and fun, it works great.
Quality
I have seen some people complain about cheap interior materials. I would agree that the materials are cheap, but I would quickly throw out the notion that "cheap means poor quality" in this case. Sure, shiny plastics and toggle switches might seem a little odd to some people, but the overall assembly of these items is very solid and well placed. I have never, ever felt like I was driving a cheap econobox in this car, and don't expect I ever will.
Everything you've ever heard about the high quality of BMW vehicles applies directly to this car. It feels well built from every aspect and radiates a sense of safety when driving it that most cars do not.
Safety
This is a double edged sword for many people here -- small is bad, safety tests show its better, yadda, yadda. Let me say this: It has been proven that "bigger" means more "passive safety" and less "active safety". That means, roughly, that people who drive larger vehicles feel safe because they are confident if they smack into someone else they will live (regardless of whose fault it is). Small cars, like the MINI, have great "passive safety" systems like other cars, but they also excel at "active safety", e.g. making it possible to avoid accidents by quick reaction times and/or braking.
I don't care who you are, it's not hard to see that a vehicle that weighs less than 2,500lbs is going to stop a lot faster than a vehicle that weighs 4,000-ish pounds. So while you may have to depend on those "passive safety" systems when that SUV driver loses control of his car, at least you can rest assure it was not your fault, and if you're driving a MINI, you will even most likely be happy to find yourself still alive and able to start that litigation.
Handling
This deserves its own section. Okay, so it doesn’t handle like the old Mini Cooper did. So it drives like a larger vehicle than it seems to be. Big deal. The important part to me is this: it drives better than so many other vehicles with so little effort that it's pure bliss to be behind the wheel.
This car takes corners very tight, at very high speeds, with no "fishtailing" feeling or loss of stability. I get the occasional squeal out of a fast corner, but nothing outside of what you would expect of a performance car much more expensive than the MINI. The one advantage the 'S' has, is a limited slip differential, which I would imagine solves my corner squeal problem quite nicely.
Problems I've Had
So far, I've had the well known seat-recline-lockup problem once on my passengers’ seat. It was fixed under warranty, and has not come back. I also have the drivers seat do some occasional, seemingly random locking up while sliding forward from hitting the rear entry lever, but putting the seat back it its upright position and doing it again always clears it right up.
I have another well documented issue with a rough idle. Sometimes this rough idle doesn’t kick in until you start moving the car, and leads to the occasional stall if you aren't aware of the problem. When experiencing this issue, if I push down the clutch and shift into neutral, then back to reverse or 1st, it generally clears up. The worst situation I've been in is one where I had to run from 1st to 2nd and back to 1st to get it to clear.
The transmission, like any other, has its quirks. Sometimes the shift gate to reverse is a little stiff, so shifting into and out of 1st and/or letting the clutch out in gear slightly to spin the transaxle will help. I have never had to forcibly push the shift lever anywhere when taking the time to shift in and out of another gear, and anyone who I've seen complain about having to "force" the car into reverse or 1st hasn't said anything about letting out the clutch or changing between gears to try to free it up.
I hear that sometimes the CVT's have the reverse stall issue, because the car has an "auto clutch" for shifting to a reverse gear that is separate from the CVT. It's prone to the same issues, in a much less resolvable way. All complains I can find about this for people owning CVT's I have not seen any resolution to, so something to be aware of if you are considering the automatic.
These problems seem important, but really aren't. All cars have issues somewhere, and I would rather mine be well known and easy to work around. These problems are, and all the strengths of the car more than make up for them.
The Future
I am moving to a location (this week!) which will require me to commute for about 2 to 2 and a half hours a day. I'll also be a couple hours from the nearest MINI dealer. This will give me a good chance to evaluate the car for people who want to put on a lot of miles, or are considering buying a MINI and live quite a distance from a dealer. We'll see how it goes!
Overall Satisfaction
To sum it up: On a scale of 1 (poor) to 10 (great), this car is an 11. Do I need to say more?
Updates
July 3rd 2004:
My drive (which in reality is almost 3 hours a day!) has finally had its toll, and last tuesday the MINI rolled 10,000 without problems (and yet without an oil change!). The car goes in for its first service this friday. Some questions were asked about stereo quality and interior space in the comments, and as such, I feel inclined to make a note about that here now that I've been spending a lot more time in the interior.
One of the first things that happened to me in the RSX was that the leather seat came apart at the top of the drivers seat. It angered me more than slightly to have the interior of my new car on like the 3rd week of ownership look trashy. The dealership then refused to fix the seat, claming that because I was so tall (about 6'2") the problem was my fault. The MINI, on the other hand, has been driven far more than that already and the interior still looks like new after light cleaning, with the exception of the "all weather" floor mats that never seem to get clean after breaking in. That's saying something.
As far as the stereo goes, and I use it a lot, I have discovered that it's really not as bad as I thought it was in terms of leveling out operating at high volume. In fact, that might be a problem, as with all the windows down and the stereo up 100% volume, you can barely hear it on the highway going 60mph. It sounds wonderful at full volume, with the windows shut or open, dosen't have an earth shattering thump (no subwoofer will do that), and maintains itself well with any audio that's well supplied, but man, the fact that I can tolerate it up to 100% volume at all is saying something negative somewhere about it.
I took the liberty a couple weeks ago of installing an aftermarket Sirius receiver, as the receivers from MINI are kind of expensive. I am going to have an AUX audio jack installed during my oil change later this week. I haven't had too much of a problem using FM, but the sound quality over FM leaves something to be desired. Let me tell you, if you're considering buying a factory Sirius unit and it's in your budget, it's WELL WORTH IT IF YOU DRIVE A LOT. I can't stress this enough, local stations get seriously boring very quickly due to clearchannel owning 99% of them, and hearing the same music and news over and over and over and over again is enough to drive you insane. :)
I am now to the point where when shifting in/out of reverse, I can instantly get the thing working without any thinking. I found out and confirmed from the MINI dealer in Milwaukee that reverse gear has no synchro, which is why its always such a pain in the a-- to get in and out of. Gently rocking the car forward in 1st, stopping, and then going to reverse works 100% of the time.
The drivers seat locking up problem has seemed to clear itself up. The rough idle issue seems to no longer stall the car, just brings on a rough idle. No idea why, yet. Nor does MINI have any clues. Both seats recline well and there has not been a problem since I had the passenger side seat fixed.
One thing that really annoyed me, with my 2 hour drive to a dealer, was the information that the dealer did not have Saturday hours for service. I was not pleased. I am not pleased. I will complain to them on Friday and maybe even complain to MINI, as I can go to any other dealership in this region for an oil change on a Saturday with no questions asked.
One last mention -- the sheer number of people who gawk, ask questions about, and point at my car in this area is simply amazing. Everyone up here wants to know what it is, where you get them, what kind of fuel milage they get, "that thing looks like a go kart! .. it is.", etc. When I said "something about the social implications of owning a MINI..." above, I was most certianly underplaying it for what happens outside of cities close to MINI dealers.
Anyhow, that's all for now. :)
P.S. Sorry about spelling errors in the update, I don't have time to fix them right now. :)
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 18600
Condition: New
Model Year: 2004
Model and Options: Base model, manual
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Epinions.com ID:
mini_windex
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Reviews written: 1
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